This invention relates to a gas-insulated interrupter, and more particularly to a gas-insulated interrupter of the type in which an interrupting unit is supported by a pair of terminal conductors extending through a hermetically-sealed housing.
An example of a conventional gas-insulated interrupter of the type with which the present invention is concerned is illustrated in FIG. 1. In the figure, the gas-insulated interrupter comprises a cylindrical metallic housing 1 including an end plate 2 and having in its cylindrical wall first and second openings 1a and 1b spaced apart from each other. The first opening 1a is hermetically closed by a source side lead-in terminal 4 comprising an electrically insulating molded member 4a and a rigid terminal conductor 4b secured to and extending through the insulating member 4a. The insulating member 4a has formed thereon a flange 4c for attaching the lead-in terminal 4 to the opening 1a. The second opening 1b is also hermetically closed by a load side lead-in terminal 5 similar to the source side lead-in terminal 4. The load side terminal 5 includes an electrically insulating molded member 5a with a flange 5c and a rigid terminal conductor 5b extending through the molded member 5a. Thus, the terminal conductors 4b and 5b are independently mechanically supported by the housing 1 through the insulating molded members 4a and 5a. The inner ends of the first and the second terminal conductors 4b and 5b support an elongated interrupting unit 10 having a stationary contact 6 connected to the first terminal conductor 4b and a movable contact 7 having sliding connectors 8 and 9 for slidably connecting the movable contact 7 to the second terminal conductor 5b. The upper end (as seen in FIG. 1) of the movable contact 7 can be brought into and out of electrical engagement with the stationary contact 6, and the lower (as seen in FIG. 1) end of the movable contact 7 is connected to an operating mechanism (not shown) as is well known in the art.
As described above, the conventional gas-insulated interrupter which the present invention concerns has two separate, relatively small openings 1a and 1b through which the terminal conductors 4b and 5b pass. Therefore, the assembly of the interrupting unit 10 and the connecting operation of the interrupting unit 10 to the terminal conductors 4b and 5b must be performed inside the housing 1. Thus, the assembly operation is difficult and the accuracy of assembling is poor. Also, since a space for the assembly operation is necessary inside the housing, the overall dimension of the interrupter are difficult to reduce.